Runners leave the starting line of the 118th Boston Marathon April 21, 2014 in Hopkinton, Mass. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

(Newser)
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When it comes to pacing, women runners have men beat. A study of 91,929 runners in 14 marathons noted that after the halfway point, men generally slow down by nearly 16%, while women slow down just 12%, Mic.com reports. Scientists consider a 30% second-half drop in speed as a major slowdown—and this happened to some 14% of men, but just 5% of women. Even experienced male runners were more likely than experienced women to see their speed decrease in the second half of a marathon. Meanwhile, an earlier study noted by the Wall Street Journal found that women were more likely than men to run the second half of a race faster than the first.

One explanation is tied to the fact that "men will burn a greater percentage of carbohydrates for fuel than women," a researcher tells the New York Times. Women burn more fat, and people have more fat than stored carbohydrates in our bodies. The result: "Men typically run out of fuel and bonk or hit the wall earlier than women do." Then there's the fact that men use a "risky" running strategy. "They start out fast and just hope they can hold on," the researcher says. (If marathons are too much, running just a few minutes a day seems to have health benefits.)

Of course women pace themselves better than men. When men have a goal they strive to complete it quickly and correctly. A woman will think about the goal, watch some tv, go shopping, start working, take a break, eat cookies.......by the time the woman starts with her steady pace the man is completed with his!!

JT B

Aug 18, 2014 12:52 AM CDT

The author seems more interested in patronizing women than getting at what the data actually implies. The data is taken from several articles about marathon races. The object of running a race is to WIN - and this is done by obtaining the lowest OVERALL time. The object is NOT to maintain the most steady pace. It has been pointed out that women have physical advantages over men for endurance sports, including a lower peak body weight and higher peak body fat levels. And yet despite these advantages it is rare for the first place in a marathon race, overall, to be taken by a woman when both men and women compete. In the record books, although women have been closing the gap, the male records are still 12 minutes faster. The average pace for the world record male marathon is about 4 minutes and 40 seconds per mile, whereas the average pace for the world record female marathon is about 5 minutes and 5 seconds per mile - which is a pretty devastating difference among world-class runners. Even at ultramarathon distances, where those female physical advantages should play out more strongly, male records better female records. In the NY Times article that this article is sourced from, it points out that women may not be aggressive enough in the first half of a marathon - which might explain the fact that men deliver faster overall results. The old saw about the consistent tortoise beating out the fast-starting hare simply does not appear to play out in the world of endurance racing, at least not when it comes to women vs men. However the message that women may not be as aggressive as men, leading to slower overall race results - is not the patronizing message the writer of this article seems to want to express. But in the world of endurance racing, what we see is that, overall, one group starts slower and despite maintaining a steadier pace, finishes behind the group that starts more aggressively, even though this aggressive group slows down more in the second half of the race.

KanyeToInfinity

Aug 17, 2014 9:01 PM CDT

Women could have kept up and maybe even lengthened the hunt, but I'd like to see half of them endure the necessary short bursts of high speed and yardage per numbers of steps, let alone spear and kill the boar.